Looking to move to a small town/city with LOTS of cool, rainy, and cloudy weather

[MJ5150]

Aberdeen is cool, rainy, cloudy, and damp most all the time. The job market is depressed there, but you'd have a good chance at a millwright job there I would think. A few small colleges are out that way as well.

-Mike

[B_and_S_going_to_WA]

Emily,

My fiance and I are also currently Phoenix residents and we are moving to Port Orchard at the end of October. We had a look around there the weekend before last, and visited Gig Harbor and some other areas on the peninsula as well and it was very nice. We also visited Olympia but we were hoping for something a little quieter. The economy isn't booming on the peninsula but we didn't see any homeless either. Your financial success would probably depend on your experience, education, and most importantly ambition - the squeaky wheel gets greased, as the saying goes.

Check out Mariner's Glen Apartments in Port Orchard, they have good reviews online and their prices aren't much different than you'd get in Phoenix. That's where we're lined up to live and the staff and amenities were very favorable. One of their pools is indoor, so if you like to swim you can still enjoy that during the winter (a big deal considering in WA outdoor swimming weather is very hit or miss even during the summer). It would be a nice place to live for a few months while you house-hunt. Port Orchard is also really close to Bremerton, Silverdale, Poulsbo, and Gig Harbor, and is a reasonable drive even to Tacoma, and there's a lot of land and homes for sale in the area.

If you want to meet with my fiance and I to have a coffee we'd be happy to tell you about our experience visiting the area. We've both lived in the area before at one point or another, so if it will be your first time living in WA we can offer some insights in general too.

Ben

[alexxiz]

Originally Posted by B_and_S_going_to_WA

Emily,

The economy isn't booming on the peninsula but we didn't see any homeless either.
Ben

Cause they jumped the freight trains and moved to CA. Try being homeless among piles of snow or non-stop cold rain. It ain't the "economy".

[B_and_S_going_to_WA]

Originally Posted by alexxiz

Cause they jumped the freight trains and moved to CA. Try being homeless among piles of snow or non-stop cold rain. It ain't the "economy".

Go to Seattle and watch where you walk or you'll trip over the unfortunate. The weather there is the same as it is on the peninsula.

Use common sense.

[Cinebar]

Originally Posted by MJ5150

Aberdeen is cool, rainy, cloudy, and damp most all the time. The job market is depressed there, but you'd have a good chance at a millwright job there I would think. A few small colleges are out that way as well.

-Mike

You have to have specific skills to get a position as a millwright in a mill. And then most times you have to start at the bottom as an entry level clean-up person and then "bid" up. Also, I wouldn't count on the mills for steady employment - a number of them across the PNW have shut down and the one that I used to work at has had regular curtailments (temporary shutdowns) and has recently laid off almost 100 people at one of its mills in this county.

I live in rural Lewis County and "going to town" means going to the Chehalis/Centralia area. I moved here six years ago from the southern part of the state (Clark County) and all the traffic and people that entailed and moving here was a wonderful change. I can start at the south end of Chehalis and work my way to the north end of Centralia and hit the stores that I need to hit (Safeway, the feed store, the meat market, Goodwill, and the discount bread store) and have all my needs met with minimal traffic or problems. There is a hospital in Centralia (as well as one in Morton) and there are a number of medical, dental, and eye clinics. There are also some pretty decent libraries.

The mountains are to the east (if skiing is your thing) and the ocean beaches are an easy trip to the west.

Olympia is only about 25 - 30 miles north of Centralia and in the off chance you can't find what you need in Chehalis/Centralia, you can find it in Olympia.

My biggest complaint is the rain. And the mud. And being snowed in (not as likely closer to to "town").

Downtown Centralia (old town) is very charming, with lots of antique stores, and is a pretty sight at Christmas. Centralia has a number of outlet stores.

There are also several farmer's markets and a nice little county fair and garlic festival.

[bellinghamlifestyle]

I'd like to recommend Bellingham. It is a small college city(Western Washington University plus one community college and one technical college. Population 80885 at the 2010 Census according to wikipedia) right on water. Close to big cities(1 hour to Vancouver Canada depending on border traffic and 1 1/2 hour to Seattle). Close to Mt. Baker for ski and hiking. Lots of water activities. Many walking biking trails. Good public schools. Beautiful nature. list goes on. It was chosen to be many things by numerous publications: best place to retire, happiest city, most active city etc. It has an airport which has many budget carriers fly to Las Vegas, Hawaii, Phoenix, Palm Spring, San Diego etc to help you escape from rainy winter.

[E Roy Slade]

whatcom county/bellingham at least?

ive lived in Phoenix -i also found the sun little fun

i like wind rain clouds

and it drives the scum out of here

Seattle i remember had a lot of cloudy days but what kind? caused by smog?

ive heard of rain statistics but not cloud statistics and what kind of clouds

[E Roy Slade]

and yet im in bellingham and i hate it at times-so its hard to recommend anything if those other factors get in your way- but as far as weather i like the weather

good sunny days just the right number and temperatures and mild cold days

for other reasons i hate aspects of bellingham

[mrslovettstailor]

You see alot of Homeless people in Port Angeles, which I know was not on your list but someone did suggest it. The college may hire at some point, you can go to their site and look as they post them online. Otherwise the economy is like pretty much most places in the USA, worse than some towns better than others. There are jobs in different areas to be had, specifically health care. One thing I noticed you will NOT see alot of ads for jobs, you want one? Get out and put applications in. Alot of places are hiring but don't post it they hire from what they have on file. Just depends on what you need to bring in each month if this is viable for you or not. The suggestion of Bellingham I would think is a good one. Not a SMALL town but it is very nice and has a great feel